CHICAGO, IL – Friday night's Week 3 opener between the Muskegon Lumberjacks (3-3-0-1, 7 pts.) and Chicago Steel (3-1-1-0, 7 pts.) didn't go as planned for the Jacks, who struggled to generate high-percentage offensive opportunities and fell 5-0.
The Steel opened scoring early, just 2:19 into the action. Reese Tracey carried the puck into the Muskegon zone on the near side of the ice and wired a shot into the upper far corner of the net for his first goal of the season to make it 1-0.
Five minutes later, the Steel added a power-play goal at the 7:17 mark to make it 2-0. Just before the Lumberjacks' penalty expired, Harrison Smith held the puck on the near post and, from below the goal line, sent a pass across the crease to Jason Millet on the far side. Millet one-timed the puck across the goal line for the first of his two goals in the game.
A late first-period power play helped the Lumberjacks put shots on goal, but the puck stayed out of the net, and the score remained 2-0 in favor of the hosts as the teams went back to the locker rooms for the first intermission.
The second period felt similar, with another pair of goals for the Steel. Millet scored the first at the 9:19 mark. A flurry of chances for the Steel saw both Nolan Shorter and Tracey try their luck, but
Oscar Westman (Stockholm, SWE) shut them down with a series of saves. Finally, a rebound found its way to Millet in the middle of the slot, and he cashed it in to make it 3-0.
Just over four minutes later, Westman's night ended abruptly. Joe Erickson fired a shot on goal that was turned aside, but the rebound went straight to the stick of Matyas Svrcek on the far side of the slot. As Svrcek put the puck in the back of the net,
Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz (Montreal, QC, CAN) hopped over the boards and skated to the Lumberjacks' crease to take over the goaltending duties.
The only third-period goal came on another Lumberjacks defensive lapse. Erickson intercepted a breakout pass up the middle of the zone, leading to a short 2-on-0 rush for the Steel. Erickson slid the puck to Dallas Vieau, who fired an easy shot into the back of the net.
Westman (2-2-0-0) earned the loss on his record, stopping 14 of 18 shots in a very difficult game to be the man between the pipes for the Lumberjacks. Doyon-Cataquiz played the remaining 17 minutes and stopped 2 of 3 shots he faced. Stepan Houdek (3-1-0-0) earned the win and his first career USHL shutout with 32 saves.
Saturday afternoon, the Jacks and Steel close out the week three series at 5 pm ET at USG Arena. Catch the action on FloHockey and the Lumberjacks Hockey Network presented by Gray Supply Corp.
